Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Decreases Position in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its stake in CoStar Group by 25.6%, selling 8,171 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with 23,793 shares valued at approximately $1,885,000.
• Analyst ratings show strong interest, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price averaging $93.25 among various firms.
• CoStar Group reported earnings of $0.17 per share, exceeding analyst expectations and marking a 15.2% revenue increase compared to the previous year.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lowered its stake in shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP - Free Report) by 25.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,793 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 8,171 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in CoStar Group were worth $1,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,426,711 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,421,448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709,320 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY grew its stake in CoStar Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 19,203,564 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,374,783,000 after buying an additional 418,128 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in CoStar Group by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,032,363 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,004,578,000 after buying an additional 4,345,267 shares in the last quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CoStar Group by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 9,313,880 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $666,781,000 after buying an additional 379,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in CoStar Group by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 8,436,199 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $668,400,000 after buying an additional 524,601 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, May 30th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $79.00 price objective for the company. Stephens upgraded shares of CoStar Group to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CoStar Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 2,033 shares of CoStar Group stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.85, for a total transaction of $188,764.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 25,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,392,837.35. The trade was a 7.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Frederick G. Saint sold 25,000 shares of CoStar Group stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.23, for a total transaction of $2,330,750.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 319,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,790,620.97. This represents a 7.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.09% of the company's stock.

CoStar Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSGP traded up $1.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $89.66. 2,534,265 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,387,803. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.26 and a 52 week high of $97.43. The company has a quick ratio of 5.83, a current ratio of 5.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.98 billion, a PE ratio of 358.64, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.85. The company's 50 day moving average price is $86.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.30.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. CoStar Group had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 2.88%. The company had revenue of $781.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $772.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CoStar Group Company Profile

CoStar Group, Inc provides information, analytics, and online marketplace services to the commercial real estate, hospitality, residential, and related professionals industries in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company offers CoStar Property that provides inventory of office, industrial, retail, multifamily, hospitality, and student housing properties and land; CoStar Sales, a robust database of comparable commercial real estate sales transactions; CoStar Market Analytics to view and report on aggregated market and submarket trends; and CoStar Tenant, an online business-to-business prospecting and analytical tool that provides tenant information.